Silence in Mirkwood
by Lancaeriel Greenleaf
Summary: An new enemy has taken over Mirkwood, and it's up to a certain prince and a pair of twins to defeat him. New Chapter Up!
1. Prologue: Feredir

**Disclaimer: **I have temporarily "borrowed" these characters and… eventually… plan to give them back… maybe…

Heronion ran. The forest became a dark green blur, and every shadow seemed a threat. A deep gash in his side slowed him down, but he had to warn King Thranduil. An army of Orcs was headed for Mirkwood, and he was the only one to have survived to give the alert. A look of relief graced his fair features as he entered the borders of Mirkwood and saw the black silhouette of another elf ahead of him. "Lasto! Im harnannen! Yrch!" Heronion yelled in his distress.

"Heronion, it has been a long time," the figure replied in a cold, raspy voice, "Mirkwood has changed since I last set foot in its forests."

Heronion froze, fear creeping like ice into his veins. "Feredir… It cannot be…"

"It cannot? Yet here I am." The figure, Feredir, stepped towards Heronion and into the moonlight, revealing an elf with bone-white skin stretched thin over haunted features. A jagged scar marred his once-handsome face. His sunken eyes were as black as coal, and in his hand he held a thin sword dripping with a dark liquid.

"As for warning Thranduil about the Orcs… I am afraid he already knows. My little army infiltrated his palace a little over an hour ago…"

"Rhachon le! Traitor!" Heronion spat, glaring at Feredir. The latter's lips curved into a cruel smile, and a thoughtful look crossed his face, "A traitor, you say…? Perhaps… But, as I am a generous being, I am going to give you a choice: You can continue forth and join your king, or…" He paused, relishing the terror etched into Heronion's face, before finishing, "You can turn back to my army and join them…"

Heronion's dread hardened into rage, and he turned without a sound and ran.

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**Translations:**

**Lasto! Im harnannen! Yrch! – **Listen! I'm wounded! Orcs!

**Rhachon le!** – I curse you!

**A/N: **Be gentle! I know it isn't amazing, but it's a work in progress! This is only the prologue, and I promise the next chapter will be longer! Review please!


	2. Of Libraries and Vendettas

**Disclaimer: **Not mine. *pouts and sighs* Ah, well, at least I still get to play with them!

Chapter One: Of Libraries and Vendettas

"They know."

Legolas looked up from his book to see Estel, pale and shaken leaning against the doorway to the library. The young human's dark, shoulder-length hair had fallen into his eyes. His breath was coming out in gasps, and his voice shook when he spoke again, "They know I told you where they would be, and now they're plotting revenge."

"What is it they're planning?" the Mirkwood prince asked nervously, knowing Estel would not be the only victim of the twins' retribution. Estel shook his head as he walked forward, "I don't know. I was passing by their room when I heard my name, so I stopped by the doorway to listen. Elladan was saying that I was the only one who knew where they had gone; therefore I was the only one who could have told you where they were. Then, Elrohir started saying something about how their revenge on both of us would be 'swift and terrible'. I didn't hear the rest of the conversation, because I heard them walking to the door, and I ran like mad to find you!"

Legolas nodded and put down his book; he would have done the same, "If what you are saying is true, then we need to deploy some defensive strategies, soon. The twins are known for their swift retaliation…" Estel's silver-blue eyes widened in worry, "Couldn't we- couldn't we try reasoning with them?"

Shaking his head at Estel's naïveté, Legolas replied, "Reasoning with them? Ha! In a situation like this, they are about as easy to reason with as an Orc. No, the most we can do is set up defenses to protect ourselves."

Estel shot him an "are you completely daft?" look, "And how do you suggest we do that? You know as well as I do that the twins plan for everything. If Elrohir misses a detail, Elladan catches it, and vice versa. We have no hope!"

Legolas grinned mischievously, "What do you think 'Estel' means?"

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**An hour later…**

"You do realize that this could go terribly, terribly wrong, right?" Estel asked, looking around skeptically at the clearing in the woods Legolas had brought him to. "It could have gone terribly, terribly wrong last night," the elf replied, smirking and picking up an overturned bucket which sap was slowly seeping from.

"So, this was what you did to them?" Estel gestured to the fragments of a net that rested on the forest floor, imagining his brothers dangling in the air and raining curses down upon Legolas. The thought brought a smile to his face, and he had to resist the urge to laugh. Legolas nodded and replied, "Yes, it is, but it wouldn't have been possible without you, _mellon n__î__n_, even if you did it to avoid the same fate."

"I barely had anything to do with what they did to you!" Estel protested indignantly. Legolas arched an eyebrow and scoffed, "Who replaced the things I wash my hair with with honey? They had no time to do it. I was with them the entire day!"

"I do not know, Legolas, but it wasn't me. They refused to tell me anything they were planning," the human stated, inwardly pouting at his exclusion from the prank. Legolas rolled his eyes, not believing Estel's story, "Of course. Either way, we have what we need." He picked up the bucket, still half-full of sap, and shoved it into Estel's arms. The Edain sighed and followed the prince back to Imladris.

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**Later that night…**

A hushed cry broke the stillness of the library. "Ow, Estel, that was my ear!"

"_Goheno n__î__n_, Legolas, but perhaps if it wasn't so pointy…" A loud _thud_ ensued, followed by, "You can do it by yourself. I am perfectly capable of finding a hiding place in the woods."

Estel picked himself up off the ground and crossed his arms, gritting his teeth he replied, "I am sorry. Now, will you please help me?" Legolas sighed and crouched down, slipping the handle of the bucket of sap onto his arm and indicating for the younger individual to climb back up onto his shoulders.

"Can you reach the top of the door?" the wood elf asked once he stood with Estel upon his shoulders. Seeing that the door was level with his eyes, Estel replied, "I can reach it, but-" He was cut off by Legolas handing him the bucket, "Just balance it on top of the door. That's all you have to do, and we should be safe for the night. You're certain there is no other entrance to the library, correct?"

Estel nodded and quickly finished his job before jumping off of the Eldar's shoulders. "I checked everywhere. There is no other way to access this room. I'm sure of it…"

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"_I checked everywhere. There is no other way to access this room. I'm sure of it…,_" Elrohir mimicked in a high-pitched voice. His mirror image snickered quietly to himself, "That's what you think, _gwador n__î__n_." The diabolical duo were crouched side by side in a hidden passage to the library concealed by the painting of a majestic waterfall, taking in every word Estel and Legolas said.

"I think we're safe… Well, at least for the night…" Legolas' voice drifted through the wall. Two identical wicked grins broke out in the darkness, and Elladan repeated his statement, "That's what you think…"

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**A/N: **Oh, no! Will Estel and Legolas be the victims of yet another wicked scheme concocted by Elladan and Elrohir? Find out in the next chapter, which shall be up soon if I get reviews!

**Translations:**

_**Mellon n**__**î**__**n:**_ My friend

_**Goheno n**__**î**__**n:**_ Forgive me

_**Gwador n**__**î**__**n: **_My brother


	3. Nowhere to Run

**Disclaimer:** Is this really necessary at this point? Not mine.

**A/N: **Sorry it took me so long to update! My computer crashed and I lost this chapter and then I got a new idea for it. I promise I will post the next chapter sooner!

Chapter Two: Nowhere to Run

_They're up to something… _Elrond thought to himself as he paced his study. A beam of silver moonlight illuminated the well-worn path on the floor he tended to take whenever the twins or Estel had done something wrong. This time, though, his pacing had been brought on by the exact opposite. Earlier in the day, he had been visited by several severely distressed elves, all of them expressing concern over the same thing: the twins were being altogether too quiet.

Normally, Elrond would have been relieved at the break from his sons' misbehavior, but he knew them well enough to know that this was just the calm before the storm. Elladan and Elrohir were plotting something; that much he knew, but to what effect? Who would be at the receiving end of one of their ridiculously well-planned schemes this time?

A knock at the door interrupted Elrond's musings. Internally groaning, he stopped pacing, sat behind his desk, and commanded, "Enter!"

A blonde elf opened the door and strode into the room, a faint smile playing at his lips. Elrond gestured to a chair in front of his desk before greeting the newcomer, "_Mae govannen_, _mellon nîn_, I take it you learned something from your little… assignment?"

Glorfindel seated himself before his friend and nodded, "A (ahem) reliable source told me that, last night, Legolas Thranduilion, aided by Estel, managed to pull a most spectacular prank on Elladan and Elrohir. As a result, the twins have confined themselves to their room all day, plotting revenge. I do pity those on the receiving end of their vengeance, for, judging from the twins' ominous mutterings, it shall be quite… unpleasant."

The Lord of Rivendell suddenly found himself resisting the urge to slam his head against a very hard object. Instead, he sighed and responded, "They should have known better than to invoke the wrath of Elladan and Elrohir. Honestly, I do not know how those two come up with such diabolical plans."

Glorfindel just shook his head, "I've learned not to ask. Though, if my memory serves correctly, the last time the prince visited, he left slightly… affronted."

Elrond allowed a small smile to grace his features as he recalled the wood elf's departure from Imladris some weeks before, "And what of Legolas and Estel? I have heard nothing from either of them since Legolas arrived."

"The twins are plotting a rather devious revenge upon the two. Do you truly believe that they are foolish enough to let anyone know where they are?"

"True, _mellon nîn_," the lord replied, "but you know as well as I: If the twins want to know where they are, it won't take them long to find out."

Before Glorfindel could reply, an ear-splitting shriek echoed down the halls of Rivendell. With grace and swiftness only brought about by thousands of years' experience, the Lord of Rivendell and the Balrog-slayer sprinted to the source of the scream.

Glorfindel reached the library first, and, after shoving the door open, felt something hard fall onto his head. Momentarily stunned, he didn't at first feel the warm, sticky substance running from his head down his back. As soon as he did, he froze and surveyed the scene around him, looking for the perpetrator.

Legolas was standing facing Glorfindel, his mouth in the perfect shape of an "O", while Estel was standing in front of a bookcase, soaked to the bone and looking like a drowned rat. An empty bucket was lying on the ground beside him, suggesting that the twins _had _gotten their revenge, or at least part of it.

Elrond was only a split second behind Glorfindel, but managed to avoid the sap-filled bucket, "What on Arda happened here?"

Estel turned to Legolas and glared, saying with chattering teeth, "I th-thought you s-said we'd be s-safe for th-the night!"

Legolas looked defiantly back at him and replied, "I said, 'I _think_ we'll be safe for the night.' It was not definite. Besides, you were the one who said you were sure there was only one entrance to the library! Obviously not!"

Glorfindel glowered at the both of them, "Who wants to explain why I'm covered in sap, and why Estel is drenched?"

Legolas set his jaw, "The twins."

Elrond opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by someone calling down the hallway, "Lord Elrond!"

He spun around and saw an elf with dark hair and grey eyes running towards him, "Lord Elrond, there is a…" The elf trailed off and stopped as he took in the sight before him.

"Don't ask, Suiadan. What is it you need to tell me?"

Suiadan hesitated for just a second before continuing, "My lord, there is a wounded Eldar from Mirkwood here. He wishes to speak with you, sir. He says it's urgent."

The lord nodded, "Take him to the Healing Rooms and tell him I will be right there. I have something I need to deal with here…" He turned to Legolas and Estel and fixed a foreboding stare upon them before turning back to Suiadan, "Thank you."

Suiadan replied with a curt nod before turning and running back down the hallway. A moment of silence passed before Glorfindel spoke, "My lord, if you don't mind, I think I shall go get cleaned up. Is there anything you need me to do?"

"Find the twins," Elrond replied. Glorfindel exited the same way as Suiadan, leaving Estel and Legolas alone to face the wrath of Elrond. "Estel, you and Legolas will go into the woods immediately and find me as much Athelas as you can. I will let this slide, but make sure to find a hiding spot that is not as easily accessed next time."

Estel and Legolas both nodded before leaving the library and heading to the forest.

**A/N:** Hmm… I wonder who the wounded Eldar from Mirkwood could be? Review please!

**Translations:** _Mae govannen, mellon nîn: _Well met, my friend.


End file.
